A recipe for extreme hunger: how a Kenyan woman feeds her family of 10 when she has 40 shillings ($.50)
IRIN News
(Kiberia, Kenya. May 14, 2010)
Widowed 16 years ago, Wilbroda Aoko Wandera, 48, has had to
become creative with the little she has, at times spending
just 40 shillings (US$0.50) to feed her family of 10. She
has no steady job and sells spinach, plaits hair and washes
clothes for a fee. She spoke to IRIN on 13 May:
"My husband had been sick for a long time, but his relatives
chased me away with my children and demolished our house
upcountry when he died, saying I had something to do with
his death. Since then life has been one long struggle.
"My mother sent me bus fare when she learnt I had been
chased away and I returned to Nairobi where we had been
living before my husband died.
"I have tried many things to feed my family and to put the
children into school; right now two boys are in secondary
school.
"I have sold [donuts] and worked as a cleaner at the
Catholic Church nearby. One time I got lucky when the local
chief allowed me to build a kiosk near the road; I used the
front part as a salon where I plaited people's hair and
lived in the back with my children. However, this was
demolished in 2007 to pave way for the Kibera slum upgrading
programme. Now I live near the river, where I have built a
mud structure.
"We mostly live on one meal a day. This is hard, especially
on the children. I have learnt to make meals for the whole
family even when I have only 40 shillings [$0.50]. With
this, I buy maize flour for 20 shillings, sugar for five,
paraffin for 10, a lemon for two and water for three. This
will make a [pot] of porridge and everybody can get a cup.
That takes us to the next day.
"When I have 50 shillings, I buy sukuma wiki [kales] for 10
shillings, maize flour for 30, cooking oil for five and
paraffin for five. With this, I cook ugali and the sukuma
wiki and everyone will at least have a hot meal.
"On a good day, when I make at least 100 shillings, the diet
is better; I buy maize flour for 45, omena [sardines] for
20, tomatoes for 10, paraffin for 10 and cooking oil for 10.
This is enough for two meals for the whole family. But the
days I make 100 are rare. Besides, when I make more than
100, I put away some money for school fees and rent.
"I feel blessed that I have the support of other widows. We
formed a self-help group in 2007. We are there for each
other, we skip meals together, we help each other in
merry-go-round donations of 20 shillings a week and struggle
to bring up our children. Life in Kibera is hard but it is
10 times harder for a widow with children."
World Hunger Education Service. For more information about world hunger, see www.worldhunger.org This article was first published by IRIN News and can be viewed at http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89132